


Only Thing that's Right

by literati42



Category: The Good Cop (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Bonding, Family Drama, Family Feels, Father Son Bonding, Gen, Hugs abound, TJ needs a hug, Tony needs a hug too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-13 23:53:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16482131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literati42/pseuds/literati42
Summary: Tag for s1ep4Tony realizes just how badly he's messed up and finally says some things that should never have gone unsaid.Or, the emotional resolution we needed after the Bowling episode





	Only Thing that's Right

**Author's Note:**

> By request for silentxsymphony! I hope this has all the soft soft times you were looking for :)
> 
> I am accepting requests, feel free to leave them in the comments. Follow me on twitter @themythofpsyche

TJ startled awake, eyes immediately going to the figure sitting in the near darkness. He was halfway to reaching for the drawer holding his gun, when he realized the shape was familiar. “Dad?” His father did not answer right away and TJ flipped his lamp on.  
Tony Caruso, Sr. sat there in the chair beside the bed, staring at TJ and staring into his own thoughts at once in a way that was both too scrutinizing and distant.  
“Were you watching me sleep?” TJ asked, feeling a few steps behind.  
“Did I fuck up so badly you really don’t know I love you?”  
TJ rubbed the sleep from his eyes and put on his glasses. The room became clearer, but the situation did not. “What?”  
“You said, during this whole bowling thing, that you felt I was proud of you for the first time.”  
“Are you drunk?”  
“I had a few, I’m not drunk.” Tony sat forward, looking into his son’s eyes. “I just need you to tell me right now. Did I fuck up so badly you think I don’t love you?”  
TJ leaned back on the headboard, “Maybe we should have this conversation when you’re sober and I’m awake.” Tony closed his eyes, letting out a shaky breath.  
“The fact that you won’t just answer is all the answer I need,” he said, standing.  
“Dad, wait,” TJ said. His father paused, lowering himself back into the seat. “I know you love me, Dad. It’s not that.”  
“Then what is it?”  
“Nothing.” TJ sighed, “Nothing. I just know you love me.”  
“No, say what you were going to say. I can take it.”  
“It’s…I know you love me, but you also don’t like me. Even you have to admit that.”  
“What’s that supposed to mean? How can I love you and not like you?”  
“You love me as your son. Because I am your son, but the actual facts about who I am as a person…you’re not as fond of.”  
“Why would you every think nonsense like that?”  
“You complain about everything I say and do. You constantly tried to make me be someone I’m not.”  
“Oh the little league thing again?”  
“Yeah, like the little league thing.”  
Tony, Sr. stood up. “Oh so I try to get my kid to try out for baseball and suddenly I’m the worst father in the world?”  
“No.” TJ let out a frustrated breath, “Look, you came in here asking questions in the middle of the night, and now you’re getting mad at me? I’m too tired for this.”  
“I gave you everything you could want, didn’t I? I worked hard so you would never want for anything.”  
“This, ‘I worked to put food on the table’ conversation would probably be a lot more effective if you didn’t literally go to prison for not actually working to earn all the money you provided.”  
Tony waved his hand, frustration rolling off him. He pointed a finger at TJ. “When you were born, I swore you would not grow up like I did. You would never be poor or hungry. I swore you would not have to be made fun of for the shoes you wore or need to tape your backpack up to keep the books from falling out. I swore you would have a home to go back to with warm food on the table every night. I swore it to you, and your mother, and God himself. Go ask Father Clemente. He’ll remember, I swore it in front of him too.”  
“Wasn’t Father Clemente arrested for embezzlement?”  
“TJ, my son. You are truly getting caught in the wrong details.”  
TJ ran a hand over his face, “You’re right, I’m sorry. Yes. You gave me everything you never had. I know.”  
“So, I gave you everything. I tell you I love you every day. I show you and I tell you, what more do you want?”  
“I didn’t initiate this conversation,” TJ said, his tone getting sharper. “I don’t want anything, Dad.”  
“Years of being a detective, a damn good detective, and you think I can’t tell when you’re lying to me? Just say it, Anthony.”  
“You gave me everything except the one thing I actually wanted.” The words rushed out of TJ then. “For my father to like one single solidary thing about the person I actually am. Instead you manipulate me, you maneuver me, you badger me, and you guilt me into doing whatever you want because you know I can’t say no to you. And here I thought the bowling thing, this bowling thing would be the one thing that is actually me that you actually liked. And it was fake.”  
His words hung in the air between them. TJ was waiting for the comeback, but watched as the fight deflated out of his father. The older man hung his head and spoke slowly.  
“Look, I’ve done a lot of things in my life. You would call most of them bad. Even marrying Connie I can’t take credit for, that was all her. I may never know why she chose me when she could have had anybody. Her and I, that wasn’t because of me.” He waved this away, then looked straight into his son’s eyes. “I mess up a lot, I admit it. A lot. The one thing I got right in this life is you.”  
“Dad…”  
“I may not,” Tony ran a hand over his eyes to wipe away the tears. “I may not understand you ever. Maybe not even a little bit. But Anthony, you are a good man. You’re a good cop, you’re a good friend, you’re a good detective. You’re a damn good son. I need to know that you know that, and that, you know I know that.” He sat forward, pulling his son’s face until their foreheads rested against each other. “I love you, Anthony, and I’m damn proud of you.” When Tony pulled away, maintaining eye contact. “And I do like you. I don’t live with a lot of regret, but more than anything, I regret that I made you think anything otherwise.” When he stood, both of them had tears in their eyes. “Son, I love you and I do like you.” He began to head out the door.  
“Dad…” TJ swallowed the emotion heavy in his voice, he stood and embraced his father, holding on. “I love you too.” Tony patted his son’s cheek lightly and headed out the door. TJ lowered himself back on the bed, staring at the chair his father just vacated, letting his mind wander over the conversation again and again.


End file.
